YumaBev is a VIDEO star??

After almost two years of editing, the Lights, Camera, Action video my Wonderful Husband and I did about Medtronic DBS therapy for Parkinson's disease is finally available to be viewed. 

Click to play:

 I had watched some of the other Patient Stories online and was expecting mine to be 1 or 2 minutes long. I wondered which parts of the hours and hours of filming they would use. A lot of what they filmed that day was a blur.

I remember talking about my DBS experience and how they kept having to stop because the landscapers were making too much noise outside. 

I remember laughing and being silly and talking about my Parkinson's Humor blog.

I remember circling around and around the hotel trying to get a good shot of me driving my bright yellow Chevy Sonic. 

But most of all, I remember being able to share my story in my own words, just like I do in my blogs.

I was expecting a 90-second video, instead they made an eight minute movie that tells the love story of me and my Wonderful Husband. Enjoy it. 

You can also find the video by searching YumaBev's Medtronic DBS Story on YouTube.

I'd love to hear your thoughts about it. Email me at yumabev@gmail.com

Clicking on the colored words will open a new window and take you to a different story or website. 

The Energeezer Parkie Will Need a New Battery...Soon

Several years ago, I wrote a story where I used rechargeable batteries as a way to describe what life is like with Parkinson's disease. Using my warped sense of humor, I changed the famous Energizer Bunny to the Energeezer Parkie. It thought it was a pretty good analogy. Once I had DBS surgery, my 'Parkie' battery was pretty close to 100% every day. 

I knew my Medtronic Activa-PC DBS generator battery would need to be replaced some day. The average lifespan is 3 to 5 years. Mine was six years old in October 2018. 

At the beginning of 2016, my battery level was 2.97v. At the beginning of 2017, my battery level was at 2.91v. At the beginning of 2018 it was 2.85v. It was averaging a drop of .06v a year, so I figured I'd have several more years until it reached the ERI (Elective Replacement Indicated) warning you get when it drops to 2.61v, I was wrong.

I had been in the habit of checking my battery level using my patient programmer about every three months. April was 2.83v and July was 2.81v, right on target. So you can imagine my surprise when I checked it at the end of October 2018 and saw that it was down to 2.76v.  

I started checking it monthly, then weekly and now daily and I wasn't liking what I was seeing. The amount of time between voltage drops was decreasing. 

As of today, January 21, 2019, it's now at 2.69v. That's a drop of .07v in less than three months. If the voltage drop continues to accelerate, I will get the ERI warning in a few months!!!

Jan 2019, battery at 2.69v

My neurosurgeon, Dr. Norton is in the same office as Dr. Bradley, my Movement Disorder Specialist and I have an appointment with her in mid-March. I have already contacted Norton's assistant because I didn't want to wait until March and then find out that he's going to be on vacation or something else that would make him unavailable. Norton's assistant said they could get me on his surgery schedule within two weeks, but I should call if I get the ERI warning before my March appointment. 

Looks like the Energeezer Parkie will soon be getting  a brand new generator. 

The generator won't stop working when the ERI warning appears. There's a built in cushion of time, it doesn't stop working until it gets to 2.20v.

If you have a Medtronic Activa DBS generator and don't know how to check it, click on the link above. You don't want it to suddenly stop working.

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